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Aviles isn't a bad SS, just an unexpected one. He's played better as a super-sub, aside from his rookie campaign, and doesn't have the arm he did before Tommy John surgery. He shouldn't be too exposed by starting at SS, with Nick Punto as an available sub. Still, counting on him for much above 100 games played will be risky.

that seems like a definite maybe,i keep reminding myself now that in 2007 the team won with lugo.its odd that a playoff contender since 2004 has run through what 23-24 ss.

that seems like a definite maybe,i keep reminding myself now that in 2007 the team won with lugo.its odd that a playoff contender since 2004 has run through what 23-24 ss.

Should I go dig up all your "I don't get it, WTF are they thinking?" posts from when Scutaro was brought in?

If Iglesias keeps progressing offensively as well as he has been so far, he may force himself onto the roster by mid-summer. Early indications are his bat may not be the inky-black vortex of suck many have been assuming.

Scutaro was a bridge to Iglesias. Aviles/Punto are a different bridge to Iglesias. The end goal still seems to be to get to Iglesias.

Should I go dig up all your "I don't get it, WTF are they thinking?" posts from when Scutaro was brought in?

If Iglesias keeps progressing offensively as well as he has been so far, he may force himself onto the roster by mid-summer. Early indications are his bat may not be the inky-black vortex of suck many have been assuming.

Scutaro was a bridge to Iglesias. Aviles/Punto are a different bridge to Iglesias. The end goal still seems to be to get to Iglesias.

im comfy with the questions in dealing a solid ss for no real reasons.it seems that during the offseason the sox clearly preferred to let iglesias work on his hitting in the minors.if scuts was not the bridge why sighn him in the first place,i think they were better off with scuts and aviles than aviles and punto.

so what we now know is that you dont have to be good up the middle,wipes away 100 years or so of baseball beliefs.whats next,you dont need great pitching?

You don't need any one thing if you have some other strength to compensate for your weakness.

Some things require more compensating than others. Defense up the middle is still pretty important. If Aviles is outright terrible, then all bets are off. But the bar isn't that high for approximating Scutaro's performance. We're talking "solid," not "spectacular." And it's about how the other pieces fit together, too.

so what we now know is that you dont have to be good up the middle,wipes away 100 years or so of baseball beliefs.whats next,you dont need great pitching?

You don't need any one thing if you have some other strength to compensate for your weakness.

Some things require more compensating than others. Defense up the middle is still pretty important. If Aviles is outright terrible, then all bets are off. But the bar isn't that high for approximating Scutaro's performance. We're talking "solid," not "spectacular." And it's about how the other pieces fit together, too.

the analysis raises the issue,my point in this was this was uneeded.in "short"they created their own issue.

In any event, I'm not yet sure that the Red Sox really did create an "issue" at shortstop. They created an issue in terms of overall infield depth. Any type of nagging injury for Kevin Youkilis – and that has been the norm throughout his career – would leave them offensively challenged and awfully thin on the left side. But if we're talking about a healthy lineup, there's reason to believe that Aviles can roughly match Scutaro with both glove and bat.

They needed an outfielder once the Crawford wrist issue popped up. I think they did well for the price tag with Cody Ross. They need to keep a little money in the bank to address potential needs later in the season. If Scutaro's contract really was the price tag for all of that, then the trade wasn't "unneeded." The Red Sox reacted on the fly to changed circumstances.

But I don't know. It's equally possible that they just didn't really have a good plan figured out.

im comfy with the questions in dealing a solid ss for no real reasons.it seems that during the offseason the sox clearly preferred to let iglesias work on his hitting in the minors.if scuts was not the bridge why sighn him in the first place,i think they were better off with scuts and aviles than aviles and punto.

Or maybe they knew something we didn't about how soon Iglesias is likely to be ready.

Or maybe they knew something we didn't about how soon Iglesias is likely to be ready.

thought about that but as i recall for most of the offseason local and national reporters kept reporting the sox wanting iglesias in the minors because of the hitting issue.but if he is ready,than losing scuts makes sense from bothe personel and financia sense.

Or maybe they knew something we didn't about how soon Iglesias is likely to be ready.

iglesias seems to be hitting ok so far,is it possible that the disconnect between what the sox may have known vs reports from writers was as big as its may be.not bandwagoning but but i keep seeing decent hitting by iglesias